National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2010 National Competition Winners

From a competitive field of more than 320,000 students nationwide, 16-year-old Amber Rose Johnson of Providence, Rhode Island, received the title of 2010 Poetry Out Loud National Champion at the National Finals held in Washington, DC on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. With her achievement, she also receives a $20,000 award and her high school, Classical High School, will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The second-place winner was Ruth Haile of Sioux Falls Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who received a $10,000 award. The Maryland State Champion, Nora Sandler, of Richard Montgomery High School in Bethesda, Maryland, received the third place prize and a $5,000 award. In addition, each of the top nine finalists received a $1,000 award, and their schools received $500 each for the purchase of poetry books. Source: NEA Press Release.

Although Indiana State Champion Elise Lockwood did not make it out of the first round of the National Competition, we're proud of her efforts and achievements in the 2010 Poetry Out Loud Competition and wish her luck with her future endeavors.

2010 State Competition and Winners

The 2010 Indiana Poetry Out Loud Competition took place on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at the Indianapolis Central Public Library. The Indiana Arts Commission would like to thank all of the participants, teachers, parents and judges for making this year's Poetry Out Loud competition possible. A video of this year's Indiana competition can be viewed below. You may also view the video here. Special thanks to Dr. Philip Seng for this video.

Elise Lockwood of University High School of Indiana, Carmel will represent Indiana in Washington D.C., competing in the National Finals competition on April 25-28, 2009. Elise received a $200 cash prize and a $500 stipend for her school for the purchase of poetry books.

Colleen Friedly of Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis came in second place and received a $100 cash prize and a $200 stipend for her school library for the purchase of poetry books.

Jenaya Hooks of Arsenal Technical High Schoolcame in third place.

Finalists:

Kier Grubbs, Anderson Preparatory Academy, Anderson

Jenaya Hooks, Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis

Durrell Jamerson, Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis

Kate-Lyn Edwards, Bloomington New Technology High School, Bloomington

Colleen Friedly, Broad Ripple High School, Indianapolis

Ashley Martin, Clay High School, South Bend

Joshua Westbrook, Columbus Christian High School, Columbus

Sierra Savage, Floyd Central High School, Floyds Knobs

Sydney Gates, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis

Angelina Jung, Plymouth High School, Plymouth

Olivia Byely, Traders Point Christian Academy, Whitestown

Elise Lockwood, University High School of Indiana, Carmel

Ben Koshnick, Warsaw High School, Warsaw

Judges:

Joyce Brinkman, former IN Poet Laureate, Indianapolis

Christopher Citro, host of "The Poet's Weave", WFIU, Bloomington*

SIAM (Shaikh Ibrahim Al-Jahizz M'Backe), poet, Bloomington

MomJara, literary and performing artist, Indianapolis

Emily Hankley Berger, Annual Fund Coordinator, IMCPL

*Note: Christopher Citro speaks about his experience with the Indiana Poetry Out Loud competition and includes a few readings from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology on his WFIU Bloomington radio show The Poets Weave on April 25, 2010 at 11:46 a.m. For a live stream or MP3 archive, please visit http://indianapublicmedia.org/poetsweave/.